Autistic Burnout: When Everyday Life Becomes Overwhelmin

Autistic burnout is a profound, often invisible collapse that affects many autistic individuals, whether formally diagnosed or not. Long overlooked, it is now being increasingly recognised by researchers as a genuine neuropsychological phenomenon. Yet in everyday life, it remains largely misunderstood.

A Real, Scientifically Validated Phenomenon

In 2020, a study by Raymaker et al. (2020) provided a clear scientific framework: autistic burnout is characterised by three main symptoms:

1. Chronic exhaustion, deep and affecting physical, cognitive, and emotional capacities;

2. Loss of skills (language, autonomy, social abilities), which is usually temporary and reversible;

3. Significant increase in autistic traits, including those previously masked.

   
   

This is not typical fatigue, nor is it depression: it is a form of neurological saturation caused by prolonged exposure to adaptation, masking, or social pressure.

Very Specific Triggering Factors

The main causes identified in the Raymaker (2020) study include:

• Intensive social masking, particularly in work or family settings;

• Lack of recovery time following social interactions;

• Prolonged exposure to sensory-overloading environments;

• Lack of recognition for autistic needs;

• Sudden transitions, changes in routine, and constant unpredictability.

  
  

It is, therefore, a logical accumulation, not a personal weakness or failure.

A Profound Impact on Daily Life

Autistic burnout may result in:

• A sudden drop in productivity, even in previously mastered tasks;

• Major social withdrawal, sometimes accompanied by mutism;

• Heightened sensory hypersensitivity;

• Feelings of failure, shame, or self-stigma.

  
  

Some individuals temporarily lose previously acquired skills, such as public speaking, driving, or reading complex texts. Others experience a collapse in their sensory tolerance thresholds.

What Autistic Burnout Is Not

• It is not depression, although it can lead to it;

• It is not a temporary meltdown, but a long-term, cumulative process;

• It is not a failure to adapt, but a sign of having compensated for too long without adequate support.

  
  

How to Prevent or Recover

• Reassess your environments: reduce noisy settings, social demands, and unstable schedules;

• Identify your triggers: sensory, social, cognitive;

• Reduce masking behaviours: stop performing a social role full-time;

• Respect your routines and downtime without guilt;

• Seek specific support, not advice to "be more flexible".

  
  

Recovery from burnout is possible, but it requires a genuine shift in perspective: on oneself, on autism, and on imposed performance norms.

📚 Further Reading

• Raymaker, D. M., Teo, A. R., Steckler, N. A., et al. (2020). "Having All of Your Internal Resources Exhausted Beyond Measure and Being Left with No Clean-Up Crew": Defining Autistic Burnout. Autism in Adulthood.

• Higgins, J. M., Arnold, S. R. C., & Weise, J. (2021). Autistic burnout: An identity-based conceptual model. Autism in Adulthood.

• Mantzalas, J., Richdale, A. L., & Adams, D. (2022). Autistic burnout, depression and anxiety in autism: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.